Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and the Rush of Wrestling

The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and the Rush of Wrestling is the captivating true story of The Legion of Doom: The Road Warriors, presented by Joe “Animal” Laurinaitis. Alongside Mike “Hawk” Hegstrand, Laurinaitis stormed onto the wrestling scene. With a monstrous style and image like no other, the Road Warriors went on to become two of the most influential and celebrated wrestlers the world has ever known.

In his first book ever, Laurinaitis shares his perspective of the dangers of being in the ring, the death of his lifelong friend and tag team partner “Hawk,” and the rush of leaving a legacy in tag team wrestling that is unmatched to this day.

Joe takes readers behind the scenes of their most famous matches, including what it was like . . .

to be twenty feet in the air on the scaffold at Starrcade ’86 as it nearly fell apart underneath,

to legitimately injure J.J. Dillon during the first War Games at The Great American Bash in 1987,

and to witness Hawk so inebriated while fighting in SummerSlam ’92, it was miraculous he could even walk.

The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and the Rush of Wrestling is the story wrestling fans have been waiting for!

Authors

“Hey! Road Warrior Animal here. Guess what! Finally a book you will love and appreciate. I am writing a wrestling book with concrete substance with the 5 Fs involved: fame, fortune, friends, family, and faith. Also, look for many—and I mean many—interesting, FUNNY episodes of life on the road with Hawk and Animal, the way I saw it. I know wrestling fans—hard core or not—have not had the opportunity to read this in any other wrestler’s book. Coming in 2011—a book for the ages! Oh, what a rush!!!!”

“Long review short, The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and the Rush of Wrestling is worth your money and time—and that time will be short because you’ll have a hell of a hard time putting it down. Complete with three kick-ass photo sections, a foreword by Ellering, and reflections from eleven pro wrestling greats, in the immortal words of Hawk, ‘OH, WHAAAAAT A RUSSSSSSSHHHHHHH . . .’”~ Coyote Duran (July 19, 2011)

“. . . the Road Warriors are the most recognized name in the history of tag team wrestling, and more importantly, Animal and Hawk were great guys—just fantastic people.”~ "Nature Boy™" Ric Flair®

“The Road Warriors revolutionized the way we all looked at characters in our industry.”~ “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes

“I think the Road Warriors, or LOD, was one of the greatest wrestling tag teams of all time. . . . All I can do is shake my head and smile at the memory of a spiked up Joe saying, ‘Tell ’em, Hawk!’ and Mike with that crazy mad look on his face, his tongue hanging out, barking out, ‘Oh . . . what a rush!’ Both Joe and Mike were first-rate pros who were loved and respected by all who knew them.”~ Bret “The Hitman” Hart

“Joe and Mike weren’t polluted by politics, maintained the ethics of the business when it needed it most, and their convincing style made people proud to be wrestling fans. No one could’ve done a better job.”~ “Rowdy” Roddy Piper

“The first time we saw them on TV, my brother (Stevie Ray) and I were like, ‘Whoa!’ Hawk and Animal were way bigger than anyone else we’d seen, and they were just killing everybody. And that’s what people wanted to see. . . .”~ Booker T

“The first time I witnessed Animal and Hawk entering the arena to take care of business, I was in awe. From their hardcore music to the welcoming roar of the crowd, I felt the immense energy build as they approached the ring, and I had no doubt that these guys earned massive expectations from their fans. And the Warriors didn’t disappoint. . . . Animal and Hawk earned legendary status with their extensive careers and have influenced wrestlers for many generations to come.”~ Rob Van Dam

“. . . they’ll be remembered by historians of professional wrestling as one of the all-time great tag teams.”~ Jim “J.R.” Ross

“Animal and Hawk are unmatched by any other team in wrestling. . . . The Road Warriors were . . . the most dominating force to ever come out.”~ “ The Russian Nightmare” Nikita Koloff

“. . . the Road Warriors were two tough, take-no-shit guys with the right look and just exploded onto the scene. . . .”~ “ The Living Legend” Larry Zbyszko

“ The Warriors will go down forever as the greatest, most imitated, most influential tag team of all time, and you can’t just say that about anybody. . . . At the end of the day, it’s the people who decide who the best is, and they chose Hawk and Animal.”~ Sean “X-Pac” Waltman

“They’re the greatest tag team of all time, and no one can touch ’em. They came out with those spikes, that look, and that size and completely changed professional wrestling. . . . I think tag team wrestling died when Mike passed. It was the end of not just a great life but a big chapter in the wrestling history book itself as well. . . . They took on a bigger-than-life status and carried it like pros, always making sure the crowd was just as much of the match as they were, and that was the difference.”~Terry “Warlord” Szopinski

“Animal and Hawk were badass muscle bullies that ran over everything in their path. They were heavy metal when heavy metal was king; they were Stone Cold before Stone Cold. They had the rap; they had it all, the it factor for sure.”~ Mike Palermo

“From unpolished beginnings in the rich wrestling ‘soil’ of Minnesota (the birthplace of a surprising number of great pro wrestlers), two very big, very strong, and very wild young men decided to give pro wrestling a go, and they came up with a ‘gimmick’ that stood the test of several decades of ups and downs in the crazy world of pro wrestling, most of it prior to the dominance of the WWE and WWF. . . . Their intensity and creative talents led to widespread fan acceptance everywhere. . . . In a business where so many copy so many others, the Road Warriors stand tall as originals in both performance and presentation and are undoubtedly the greatest professional tag team wrestling duo of all time.”~ Mike Lambert, Powerlifting USA (December 2010)

“In a business where so many copy others, the Road Warriors stand tall as originals in both performance and presentation, and are undoubtedly the greatest professional tag team wrestling duo of all time.”~ Powerlifting USA (December 2010)

“. . . Laurinaitis takes us through the training process and shows how he and Hegstrand learned to put on a show for fans. . . . A lively, highly informative look at an ever-more-popular though still controversial sport.”~ David Pitt, Booklist (February 1, 2011)

"You feel like you're right alongside Hawk & Animal during the biggest matches of their career, and you're back in the locker room to see all the craziness of pro wrestling firsthand. It's a fine companion to WWE's DVD set on the Road Warriors a few years back, with the addition of more details and some funny stories that can only happen in wrestling. If you're a fan of the Road Warriors, reading this book is an absolute must."~ Scott Cook, 411mania.com (February 21, 2011)

“The book is well worth buying, and for those of us of a certain age, it is a welcome trip down memory lane.”~ Bob McGee, Wrestlingnewssource.com (February 2011)

“This is a great book that deserves a place in the wrestling library of any wrestling fan that wants to know more about wrestling during the ’80s and ’90s. This book is similar in style and content quality to those by Bret Hart and Gary Hart, both of which I consider to be among the greatest wrestling autobiographies ever.”~ Eric Cohen, About.com (February 2011)

“This book tells it like it is—letting the reader inside the wrestling world, from how the Road Warriors met to how they decided on their gimmick, and letting people see the men behind the roles that they play on television. If you are a Road Warrior fan or even just a wrestling fan, you will enjoy reading The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and the Rush of Wrestling.”~ Gabrielle Lee, FreshFiction.com (February 2011)

“If you are a fan of The Road Warriors, then you definitely want to read this book. The writing is easy to follow, and once you pick it up, you won’t put it down. In the end, The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and the Rush of Wrestling was a ‘rush.’”~ Rick Rockwell, The Examiner

August 26, 1991. SummerSlam. New York City. There we were, Hawk and Animal, the mighty Road Warriors, the Legion of Doom, putting our gear on in the dressing room at Madison Square Garden. Then it hit me: we were taking on the Nasty Boys, Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags, for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Tag Team Championships. I looked at Hawk, who was strapping his boots up tight. “Hey, man, can you believe this?” “Animal”—Hawk looked up with a smile—“I’m shaking, brother.” I looked at his hands as he buckled the last strap. They were trembling. I looked at mine. They were shaking, too. It was crazy. There was a knock at the door, and Captain Lou Albano came barging in. He reeked of booze. “Hey, Animal. Hey, Hawk.” He was huffing and puffing, out of breath. “Holy shit, fellas, did you see the crowd out there?”